I don't usually buy into long term visions, because they virtually never
work. Microsoft changed its vision twice in the last 5 years,
*completely*, from end to end. Sun (and the other Java followers) have
also changed their Java vision several times during its short lifespan,
also, from end to end. In reality, where a language goes is strongly
decided by the userbase, and not by the vendors. In the .NET case it might
work, because Microsoft is one of the only companies that actually stand a
chance at imposing their will on the market, if what they offer is
reasonably good (which .NET is, apparently).
Giving it a try doesn't hurt, though. I just explained why I liked Blake's
non politically correct statement :)
Zeev
At 10:58 16-08-01, Kristian Koehntopp wrote:
>On Thu, Aug 16, 2001 at 02:24:27AM +0300, Zeev Suraski wrote:
> > >I've rambled a bit, but my feeling is that the Linux Today Article is
> > >premature. PHP can (and likely will) support the features mentioned
> in the
> > >article, but the real question is, are these really the features that are
> > >going to be used?
>
> > Very nice non-PC statement! :)
>
>A programming language is not only a tool and a framework, it
>also is a set of people sharing a common vision and working
>together - a community. What Microsoft provided with .net
>is not so much a product - yet. It is a vision, though, and
>a plan where they want to go in the next few years.
>
>So to compete here, PHP need not only be superior in technical
>checklist items, it also has to provide a kind of development
>roadmap, a plan where it wants to be in 3 and in 5 years, and
>what services it will provide to developers then. That is the
>PHP vision that the language and the system needs to stand the
>marketing onslaught by Microsoft.
>
>Note how other communities, notably Perl, provided such a vision
>in the past (e.g. the mythical Perl compiler), and continue
>to provide such visions now (e.g. Perl 6 and flexible scanners
>to turn Perl into the one language to parse all syntaxes). Larry
>provides even more - with his speeches and interviews he even
>provides a kind of philosophy behind Perl, a greater concept
>to explain not only how, but also why things have been done the
>way they have been done.
>
>As you can see in the case of Perl, the vision need not be
>final, useful or even true, it just needs to be cool, and
>believable. It is being used as a tool to bind the community
>tigther together, to provide hope and a sense of direction.
>
>
>To come back to PHP: What is the place of PHP in 3 and in 5
>years, what are the next big projects tackled in the
>development of PHP, and what is the larger idea behind PHP -
>what does the language _want_ to become, and what audience will
>it cater. If you can answer these questions for your developing
>audience, these answers will have a large influence on the
>qualification and quantity of audience you have.
>
>PHP 2005 - If you code it, they will come.
>
>Kristian
>
>--
>Kristian Köhntopp, NetUSE AG Dr.-Hell-Straße, D-24107 Kiel
>Tel: +49 431 386 435 00, Fax: +49 431 386 435 99
--
Zeev Suraski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CTO & co-founder, Zend Technologies Ltd. http://www.zend.com/
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